The Kisumu County government has appointed Ms Jane Anyango Adika, popularly known for her ‘serikali saidia’ [government please help] fame, as the county flood preparedness ambassador under the department of Special Programmes.

She is expected to lead a massive campaign on flood mitigation in order to reduce the expected effects of El Nino rains.

According to Governor Jack Ranguma, having her in the special programJanmes department will greatly help pass the county’s message on preparedness as she is already well known.

“We have taken this initiative to ensure that the people get the information on floods from a simple perspective and a familiar face. Given that she (Adika) has been a perennial victim of floods, she has expressed desire to help in the advocacy to ensure we do not experience worst impacts of the rains,” Ranguma said.

The county is said to have set aside KSh 70 million for the project that will mostly focus on Muhoroni, Nyando, Lower Nyakach and Kisumu Central.

Mama Serikali Saidia was thrashed in the public spotlight in 2012 when she was featured on a news bulleting in one of the local tv stations, where she agonizingly yet in away Kenyans found humorous recounted her losses after floods swept away her home and those of other residents in kano.

She pleaded with the government ‘serikali’ to ‘saidia’ help locate her husband and children who had allegedly gone missing after the floods.

Kenyans laughed not at her plight but the way she put it across with DJs remixing her account in their songs. The Serikali Saidia plea was also used as a ringtone by thousands of mobile phone users.

COPYRIGHT

In 2013 Ms anyango, a mother of eight, sought to get compensation from mobile phone companies for the use of her self-made phrase.

ADVERTISNG DEAL

In august this year, Mrs. Serikali Saidia landed a lucrative advertisement deal with Safaricom that saw her feature in an advertising campaign that featured ordinary Kenyans whose unique situations became the talk of town from the way they explained themselves out.

Indeed every cloud has its silver lining.